Cutting or welding and heattreating apparatus



Dec. 1, 1942. H. w. JONES 2,303,473 CUTTING OR WELDING AND HEAT-TREATINGAPPARA TUS Original Filed larch 3Q. 1939 INVENTOR HOMER W. JONESATTORNEY course.

Patented Dec. 1, 1942 CUTTING OR WELDING AND HEAT- TREATING APPARATUSHomer W. Jones, Westfleld, N. J., assignor to The.

Linde Air Products Company, a corporation of Ohio Original applicationMarch 30, 1939, Serial No. 264,918. Divided and this application July15, 1941, Serial No. 402,453

9 Claims.

This invention relates. to local heat-treatment, and more particularlyto apparatus adapted to direct .localized high-temperature heat against.the surface of a metal body adjacent to the regions deleteriouslyaffected by a welding, flamecutting, or similar operation.

It is common procedure in flame-cutting or welding to direct aflame-.cutting or welding jet against the surface of a ferrous metalbody along a predetermined irregular path. The path to be followed isdefined by an outline or a template of predetermined configuration whichassists in manually or mechanically guiding the cutting or weldingimplement along the desired is composed of mild or low carbon steel, thewelding or cutting operation may induce hardening of the metal in theportions adjoining the.

undesirably by such metallurgical operations, in order to restore themetal to a state of ductility,

that would allow the metal to be fabricated or used for structuralpurposes. Often such furnace treatment was uneconomical because of theexcessive time and expense involved. .Where large sections were beingfabricated, annealing furnaces of the necessary size and shape were notalways available. Furthermore, by the time the welding or cuttingoperation had been completed so that the body might be placed in afurnace, portions often had cooled substantially to room temperature sothat the metal became permanently injured by the formation of surfacechecks and cracks. Localizedhigh-temperature heat has been used toheat-treat portions of metal bodies hardened by a flame-cutting orwelding operation, butno arrangement has been pro-, vided wherebylocalized reconditioning heat may be applied concurrently with a weldingor cutting .operation along a, path of generally irregularconfiguration. For example, no provision has been made whereby aheat-treating head may follow along a kerf of generally irregularconfiguration at a point substantially separated from a cutting blowpipeso as to heat treat the affected edges.

Accordingly, the principal objects of the present invention are toprovide improved apparatus for welding or cutting a ferrous metal bodyand concurrently therewith heat-treating the portions metallurgicallyaffected by the welding or Unless the metal body operated uponsubstantially adjacent to a generally irregular cutting operation; toprovide in such an apparatus means for manually shifting the position ofthe heat-treating means in accordance with the configuration of the pathto be followed; to provide an improved cutting and heat-treating unitadapted to be connected to a conventional shape-cutting machine; toprovide means for automatically maintaining a heat-treating head path oftravel; to provide an improved apparatus for efiecting successive heattreatments along a path of travel aifected by a welding or flamecuttingoperation; and to provide means substantially remote from the flames forshifting the heat-treating head transversely with respect to the line oftravel. These and other objects of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawing disclosingembodiments of the present invention. In the drawing Fig. 1 is aside-elevational view of a reproducing machine illustrating a modifiedform of the invention wherein the position of the heating head isautomatically regulated by the position of the template follower; and 4Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a simplified version of the presentinvention but wherein a plurality of heating heads are employed toperform successive heat treatments.

Generally speaking, the invention comprises one or more heating heads Hspaced a substantial distance from a cutting or welding blowpipe B andadapted to project one or more sources of local high-temperature heatagainst successive zones along or adjacent to the line of travel of thecutting or welding blowpipe. The heating head H and the cutting orwelding blowpipe B are supported for movement along a predetermined pathover the surface of a metal body, being secured, for example, to theblowpipe-supporting arm of a conventional shape-cutting machine.Steering means S, permits the heatin head H to be swivelled about aremotely positioned axis preferably the axis of the blowpipe B, wherebythe heating head H may be adjustably positioned with respect to the pathof travel. As

shown in Fig. 1, the heating head H and blow- 1 body during cooling.Although the blowpipe is ing mechanism comprises a table 55 having apair of longitudinally extending tracks 56 thereon. A

lower carriage 51 is mounted for rolling movement on the tracks 58. Apair of transversely extending tracks 58 on the lower carriage 51provide rolling support for an upper carriage 59. The upper carriage,which is thus free to move universally in a horizontal plane, supports ablowpipe arm 6| extending horizontally outward therefrom. A conventionalcutting blowpipe or equivalent tool B is swivelly mounted within ajournal J at the outer extremity of the arm ii. The upper carriage ispropelled by-a drive mechanism 62 comprising an electric motorand speedreduction gearing as shown, supported on and within a housing 63. Thehousing 63 is journalled with respect to the upper carriage 59 and thusmay swivel about a central axis. Power from the drive mechanism 62 istransmitted to trunnions 64 adapted to engage a template T mounted onthe table 55. As the trunnions rotate in opposite directions, the uppercarriage and consequently the blow pipe B are propelled about a coursecorresponding with the path defined by the template T. The trunnionsfrictionally engage the sides and edges of the template so that a planecon- I taining the trunnion axes is maintained perpendicular to the pathof travel at all times. Accordingly, as the trimnions propel thecarriage No, 161,085, flied August 26, 1937, now Patent No. 2,279,338dated April 14, 1942. A pair of mutually separated heating heads H and Hare mounted in hinged relation to one another and to the blowpipe B sothat either of the heads H may be shifted to any desired position withrespect to the pathof travel. Mounting means such as a plate ll supportsthe heating head H and is pivotally secured to a clamp 15 on theblowpipe B by a hinge 16. Similarly, the heating head H is supported bymeans of a plate 'I'l pivotally secured to the plate 14 by a hinge ll.Steering means S provides a manually operable control device formaintaining either or both of the heads H, H in predetermined relationwith respect to the path of travel. As shown in Fig. 2, the steeringmeans S may comprise a pair of connecting rods 19 and ll secured inarticulated relation to the heads H and H as by means of mounting lugs82 and removable pins 83. The rods 19 and 8| are joined in pivotalrelation at the outer extremity by a T-shaped member 84 comprising apivotal link 85 and a handle portion 86. By manipulating the steeringmeans S, either or both of the heads H may be manually guided so as tobe maintained in predetermined relation to the path of travel. The heatcapacity of the about the template, the housing 53 is maintained inconstant angular relationship with respect to the template.

A tube 85 houses the trunnion drive shafts, and is secured to thehousing 63 in such a manner as to rotate therewith. The heating head H,secured in spaced relation to the blowpipe B, may be revolved about theblowpipe axis in any convenient manner in response tothe turning motionof the housing 63 to thereby coordinate automaticallly the rotaryposition of the housing 63 and the heating head H. One means forobtaining this result is illustrated more or less diagrammatically inFig. 1, and comprises a sprocket 66 secured to the blowpipe B and asimilar sprocket 61 secured to the tube 65. An intermediate verticalshaft 68 supports sprockets i9 and II. Chains l2 and I3 join therespective sprockets as shown, so that the rotary" on of the head H maybe coordinated with respectto the movement of the hous gfl and trunnions6|. The heating head H thus utomatically is maintained in substantiallya uniform position with respect to the path of travel, being controlledby the turning motion imparted to the tube and housing 63- respectiveheads H and H and the distance separating the respective parts isdetermined by the nature of the heat-treatment desired as will morefully hereinafter appear, Wing nuts 81 are threaded'on the pintle of therespective hinges I6 and It for locking the hinges in predeterminedposition. For example, if the apparatus is' to be employed in connectionwith straight line travel, or if the heating heads are to beautomatically swiveiied in the m'anner disclosed in Fig. 1, the steeringmeans 8 may be temporarily removed from the heads H and Hf by removingthe pins 83 and the wing nuts 81 may be tightened in clamp the heads inpredetermined angular operation is effective in eliminating hardeningtendencies of the metal during cooling. This result may be obtained, forexample, by locating the multi-tip head H in advance of the nomle N sothat the zone adjoining the path of travel has suiiicient heatv soakedinto the portions by the head H as to avoid a quenching action followingthe flame-cutting or other operation. The degree of preheat is notcritical in most cases. With most quench hardening steels, satisfactorypreheat is obtained when the successive zones in advance of the cuttingor welding blowpipe are heated more or less uniformly throughout to ared heat.

Where the metal body is composed of mildly air-hardening steels such ashigh-manganese structural silicon steel, nickel structural steel, andhigh-carbon plain steel. preheating in the manner described is notsuflicient to counteract excessive hardening, and resort must be made topost heat-treatment. In many cases, proper conditioning of the steel maybe elected by 10-- eating the heating head H so as to direct localizedhigh-temperature heat against the top surface typeshow'n in S. R. Oldhamapplication Serial 7| adjoining the path of travel at a point spacedbehind the blowpipe B so as to raise the temperature of the metal abovethe critical range to provide an annealing action. Where the steelemployed is strictly of an air-hardening nature, that'is, one in whichthe dissipation of heat into the adjoining atmosphere and the conductionof heat into the adjoining body of metal occur at such a rate as toinduce the formation of hard constituents, such as acicul'ar martensite,a posts annealing treatment is not entirely effective because the hardconstituents often reoccur during cooling from the annealingtemperature. In such a case, the advantages of the annealing treatmentare more or less limited to a refinement of the grain, with partialrelief of stresses and a moderate increase in the'ductility.

In order to completely restore such metals to a point where they willpass the prescribed bend I tests, it has been found advantageous toapply a localized tempering heat instead of, or in addition to, theannealing flames. The former may be accomplished by locating theheating'head H disclosed in Fig. 1 so as to reheat the portions adjacentto the path of travel, for example, the line of cut, to a point justbelow the critical range. It has been found advantageous to provide aspace between the nozzle N and the heatrange to temper the metal andrestore normal ductility. Tampering draws the hardness and otherwisetreats the metal so as to restore it to a. condition rendering itsuitable for subsequent use.

As an example of typical operation, a head H may be attached to the armof a shape-cutting machine of the type shown in Fig. 1. With a suitableblowpipe B located over a metal body,

by the cutting or welding operation and the operator has no diflicultyin maintaining the head H 0 in proper alignment. When the apparatus isemployed for preheating in conjunction with flame-cutting, the proper.position for the head H may be determined directly from observation ofthe template and follower. In other cases as where the direction ofmovement of the blowing head H of from two to five inches, according tooperating conditions, so that the metal may first partially cool fromthe cutting or welding operation, that is, to a range preferably below900 F. The capacity of the heating head is such as to then raise thetemperature of the partially cooled portions to a point just below thecritical range to effect a tempering treatment. Such a localizedtempering operation has been found effective for drawing the hardness,-

pipe support is controlled manually by the operator from a positionadjacent to the blowpipe, the path of travel is ordinarily clearlydefined by a chalk-line formed directly on the work- 0 piece, thusindicating the proper position for the preheating head H at all times.

Various modifications of the herein described apparatus may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention or sacrificing any ofits advantages.

increasing the-ductility, relieving stresses or modifying the hardconstituents.

The heads H, H shown in Fig. 2 may be employed as tandem preheatingheads to obtain a more thorough preheating action than is obtain ablewith a single head, that is, by causing the respective heads to passsuccessively over the path of travelin advance of the blowpipe B.Otherwise, the respective heads H and H' may be made to follow atsuccessive distances behind This application is a division ofapplication Serial No. 264,918, filed March 30, 1939, now Patent N 0.2,253,377.

I claim? 40' 1. A tanden heat-treating apparatus for reconditioning themetallurgical structure of ferrous metal along an irregular pathdeleteriously affected by the blowpipe of a shape-cutting or weldingmachine, comprising a plurality of heatthe blowpipe B inwhich case thehead H may 7 H is adapted to function as a tempering head.. Accordingly,the afiected portions, after partial cooling, first are annealed by theaction of the head H, resulting in a refinement of the grain and apartial reduction in the hardness. Although air-hardening steel thustreated hardens again on cooling from the anealing operation, the

. degree of hardness is moderated considerably because of the fact thatthe metal cools from a lower temperature. Cooling from the annealingtemperature produces a less drastic action than cooling from the meltingpoint of the metal such as occurs after the welding or cuttingoperation.

Sufllcient space is provided between the heads H and H so that the metalannealed by the head H may cool to a point well below the criticalrange, after which the head H' ma raise the temperature to a point justbelow the critical ing heads; mounting means for securing said heads tosaid machine at successively greater distances from said blowpipe; andmeans forshifting said respective heads laterally relatively to saidirregular path to maintain said heads in tandem relation on said path.

2. A tandem heat-treating apparatus for reconditioning the metallurgicalstructure of ferrous metal along an irregular path on the surfacethereof traversed and deleteriously affected by the blowpipe of ashape-cutting or welding machine, comprising a plurality of spacedheating heads; hinge-means pivotally connecting said respective headsfor arcuate movement of each head relative to the adjoining head aboutan axis normal to said surface; and mounting means for securing saidheads to said machine in adjoining relation to said surface and atsuccessively greater distances from said blowpipe, said head nearestsaid blowpipe being supported for arcuate movement relatively to saidblowpipe.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including means for locking saidheads in predetermined position relatively to one another. I

4. A tandem heat-treating apparatus for reconditioning the metallurgicalstructure of ferrous metal along an irregular path on the surfacethereof traversed and deleteriously affected by the blowpipe of ashape-cutting or welding ma chine, comprising a plurality of-spacedheating heads; hinge-means pivotally connecting said respectivc headsfor arcuate movement of each head relative normalto said surface;mounting means for securing said heads to said machine in adjoiningrelation to said surface and at successively greater distances from saidblowpipe, said mounting means supporting said head nearest said blowpipefor arcuate movement relatively to said blowpipe; and steering meansoperable on said respective heads to maintain said heads inpredetermined tandem relation along said irregular path.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said steering meanscomprises rods pivotally extending from said respective heads, and ahandle member pivotally Joining said rods.

6. Apparatus for progressively welding or cutting a ferrous metal bodyalong an irregular path and concurrently heat-treating the portions affted by the welding or cutting operation, comrising blowpipe means forprojecting a welding pr flame-cutting Jet against and progressivelyalong said path on the surface of said metal body; a plurality of spacedhe'ating heads located so as direct local high-temperature heat atsuccessive separated zones on said surface; and means for separatelyshiftingsaid heads relatively to one another laterally with respect tosaid irregular path. such shifting means being adapted to maintain saidheads in tandem relation along said irregular path on said surfacetraveled by said blowpipe means.

'1. Apparatus for progressively welding or cutting a ferrous metal bodyand concurrently therewith heat-treating the portions affected by thewelding or cutting operation, comprising blowpipe means for projecting awelding or flame-' cutting jet downwardly against and progressivelyalong the surface of the metal body; a ality or heating heads spaced atsuccessive substantial distances from said blowpipe means and adapted,40

to the adjoining head about an axisto apply local high-temperature heatto said surface at separated zones along the path of travel; andarticulated connections between said respective heating heads, saidconnections providing relative transverse adjustment 'of said heads withrespect to the path of travel.

8. Tandem heating head control means, adapted to maintain a plurality ofrelatively movable heating heads aligned in tandem relation along i anirregular path of travel as said heads move over the surface. of aworkpiece. said control means comprising manually operable steeringhandle means: and connecting means operatively extending from saidsteering handle means to said respective relatively movable heatingheads,said control meansbeing adapted to control individually theposition of said heads transversely of said path in accordance with theposition of said steering handle means.

9. Apparatus for progressively welding or cutting a ferrous metal bodyand concurrently heattreating the portions aifected by the welding orcutting operation, comprising blowpipe means for projecting a welding orflame-cutting jet downwardly against and progressively along anirregular path on the surface of said metal body; a

' post-annealing head adapted to direct high-temperature heat againstsaid surface at a point spaced from said blowpipe means, said head-beingadapted to reheat the portions aflected by said blowpipe means to abovethe critical range;

a post-tempering head spaced behind. said postannealing head and adaptedto direct moderately high-temperature heat against said surface toreheat the portions treated by said post-annealing head to a pointimmediately below the critical range; and means for shifting saidrespective heads transversely of said path to maintain said heads intandem relation .along said path.

- HOMER W. JONES.

